LGD Gaming stay alive at Riyadh Masters

LGD Gaming beat G2 x iG in a tiebreaker on Saturday, giving them a chance to advance to the group stage at the Riyadh Masters in Saudi Arabia.

On the final day of play-in action, LGD and G2 x iG tied 1-1 in an earlier match, causing both teams to finish with an overall record of 0-2-3 and a match record of 3-7. That led to the tiebreaker, which would determine the team that would lock down the No. 5 spot in the Group A standings.

The loser of the tiebreaker would fall to the No. 6 spot -- last place -- and be eliminated from the tournament.

G2 x iG opened the tiebreaker with a 46-minute victory on red, but LGD Gaming answered with a 42-minute win on red and a 47-minute triumph on green to punch their ticket to the decider bracket.

In the decider, LGD will face nouns, Group B's No. 4 seed, for a group-stage berth. Virtus.pro, the No. 4 seed in Group A, and MOUZ, the fifth-seeded squad in Group B, also have to play a decider-bracket match for a spot in the group stage.

VP tied 1-1 with beastcoast on Saturday, while MOUZ also played to a 1-1 draw with PSG Quest.

Matches in the decider bracket are best-of-three.

The $5 million Dota 2 event, part of the Esports World Cup, features 20 teams. Team Falcons, BetBoom Team, Gaimin Gladiators, WBG.XG, Tundra Esports, Team Liquid, OG and Team Spirit received automatic berths into the group stage. The 12 other teams are divided into two round-robin groups as they battle for eight more group-stage spots.

Play-in matches were best-of-two, and the top three teams from each group advanced. The fourth- and fifth-place teams from each group will face a fourth- or fifth-place team from the other group for the final two slots.

The group stage runs Wednesday through July 14, with all matches best-of-two. Teams will compete in two round-robin groups of eight. The top four teams in each group move on to the playoffs' upper bracket, with the fifth- and sixth-place teams in each group entering the playoffs' lower bracket.

The double-elimination playoffs run July 16-21. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.

The winning team will earn $1.5 million and 1,000 Esports World Cup team points, while the runner-up will receive $800,000 and 600 Esports World Cup team points.

In other Group A action on Saturday, Entity blanked Blacklist International 2-0. Over in Group B, Aurora and HEROIC and nouns and Azure Ray both settled for 1-1 ties.

Entity (3-0-2), Blacklist International (3-1-1) and beastcoast (1-1-3) topped Group A to punch their tickets to the group stage. HEROIC (3-0-2), PSG (2-0-3) and Aurora (2-1-2) are the Group B teams that are moving on.

The play-in round concludes on Sunday with two decider matches:

--Virtus.pro vs. MOUZ

--nouns vs. LGD Gaming

Dota 2 Riyadh Masters prize pool (money, Esports World Cup team points):

1. $1.5 million, 1,000 points

2. $800,000, 600

3. $600,000, 350

4. $400,000, 200

5-6. $300,000, 90

7-8. $200,000, 30

9-12. $100,000

13-14. $70,000

15-16. $40,000

17-18. $25,000

19-20. $15,000

--Field Level Media